Mushu
Mushu is a red dragon and the main deuteragonist from both Disney's 1998 feature film Mulan and its sequel. He is the titular character's closest companion throughout the Mulan series, acting as Mulan's guardian and protector. He is voiced by Eddie Murphy in his first appearance and Mark Moseley afterwards. Background Mushu was once a guardian spirit of Mulan's family, but he had been demoted to the humiliating position of an incense burner and gong-ringer for the deceased Fa ancestors ever since he failed to protect a family member, a soldier named Fa Deng, resulting in the soldier's demise by decapitation (he's seen carrying his own head as a spirit). Personality In contrast to Mulan, Mushu is in most situations more comical, overconfident, funny and impulsive. He strives to be one of the family guardians again and selfishly decides to convince Mulan to join the army to turn her into a war hero, believing this will get him back on the "top shelf." However, he comes to realize how selfish he has been, admitting to Mulan that he risked her life to further his own goals. He then intends to take her home to face the consequences of his actions, but when she insists on stopping the Huns, Mushu loyally follows her, showing that underneath, he has a good heart. Mushu is rather sensitive about his size. He's also always paired with Cri-Kee, a supposedly lucky cricket originally belonging to Grandmother Fa. He serves as Mushu's polar opposite amd sidekick. Together, the two are often at odds, with Cri-Kee, unlike Mushu, being incredibly selfless and cautious, whilst Mushu is often self-centered and impulsive. Even so, despite usually bickering whenever they're together, the two are apparently best friends deep down and do appreciate each other, as well as save one another on various occasions especially on Mushu's end, as Cri-Kee is usually too small to take care of himself. Development At first, Mulan's companions were to be two reptilian creatures; the idea of the creatures being dragons had not been established. However, feeling that two sidekicks would overcrowd the story, the animators then decided on a two-headed dragon, though they were green and grotesque. After the animators decided on a single-headed dragon, they established Mushu's physical concept. For better use, the animators shrunk Mushu to a smaller size. Around the time when the music of the film was to be created, the songwriters had written a piece for Mushu for him to sing to assure Mulan that he'll be there to help her. However, after Eddie Murphy came to voice the character, the character and his dynamic changed and the animators canceled the piece, although it was a favorite among the filmmakers. Mulan At the start of the film, Mushu does not make his official appearance until after Mulan runs away from home to serve in her elderly father Fa Zhou's place in a war against the deadly Hun army. Knowing that Mulan's exposure will lead to the disgrace of the Fa family, the spirits of the ancestors choose to send the Great Stone Dragon to simply bring her back safely. For the task of awakening him, they send Mushu, who is offended when he is not asked to find her himself. In the past, his actions in protecting the Fa family led to disaster. After several unsuccessful attempts at waking the Dragon, he ends up accidentally destroying the dragon statue. Cri-kee suggests that Mushu bring Mulan back safe instead so that he won't be punished, but Mushu decides to make his own plan and sets out to make Mulan a war hero, selfishly endangering her life. He meets her in a bamboo thicket overlooking the army camp. He poses as her powerful guardian though she is mildly impressed because of his small stature. They make their way for the camp where Mushu continuously gives Mulan (in the guise of Ping) advice on acting masculine. The advice eventually leads to a brawl which causes Mulan to become the most unpopular soldier at the camp. For the next couple of days, Mulan progresses along with the others in skills but the Emperor's adviser Chi-Fu feels the troops are still unqualified for the war. To keep his plan intact, Mushu creates a phony message alerting Captain Li Shang and the troops to head to the front immediately. After a run in with the Huns, Mulan's secret is discovered and she is left on a mountain summit as punishment. Mushu takes the time to reveal the real reason he decided to help Mulan on her mission, but apologizes and promises to stay by her side no matter what. Just then, Mulan spots Shan Yu, the leader of the Huns, making way for the city. Mulan, Mushu, Cri-Kee, and Khan makes way to the city to warn Shang. At the Emperor's palace, Mulan battles Shan Yu and comes up with a plan. She leads him onto the roof where Mushu fires a rocket at the villain. Shan Yu is then blasted to the fireworks tower and is killed in the explosion. Mulan is deemed China's bravest warrior and Mushu regains his job. Mulan II In the sequel, Mushu serves as both the protagonist and (semi) antagonist. When Mulan prepares to marry Li Shang, Mushu is at first overjoyed to the point of tears, going as far as planning the wedding himself. However, things change once the ancestors tell him that if Mulan marries Shang, his family's guardians will take over for her, thus making Mushu a homeless dragon. Desperate to keep his job, he continuously tries to break the two apart to keep his position. After many failed attempts, he finally succeeds. However, Mushu begins to feel regret and eventually tells Mulan the truth. Aside from this, Mulan and Shang were meant to escort three princesses to a kingdom for an arranged marriage with a childish prince. The princesses fall in love with Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po with Mulan supporting it after Mushu's schemes. To prevent the princesses from marrying, Mulan agrees to marry the prince in their place. To redeem himself, and rescue Mulan, Mushu poses himself as the worshipped Golden Dragon of Unity and forces the king to cancel the marriage, allowing Mulan and Shang to marry as planned. Back at home, Mushu prepares to leave his pedestal and return to gong duty, but Mulan and Shang arrive at the temple and merge the family temples, thus allowing Mushu to keep his job. Kingdom Hearts series Mushu plays a recurring role in the franchise serving a unique role as a summon in Kingdom Hearts and Chain of Memories, where he can appear to Sora by a card or gem and aid him in battle. His world does not appear in Kingdom Hearts, due to its destruction. Fortunately, after the conclusion of the game, his world is restored, and he returns to it. Mushu resumes the events of his world in Kingdom Hearts II continuing with Mulan on her journey, although not as a summon. However, he has a larger involvement in his world's storyline as a reprisal of his role from the film. Trivia *Along with Mulan, Mushu is the most iconic and popular character from Mulan. *In the Disney Princess franchise, Mushu is the only sidekick of a Disney Princess to have a more significant role than the love interest along with the Seven Dwarfs in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Jaq and Gus in Cinderella. *In deleted scenes, we see that Mushu is not only charismatic but has an amazing singing voice. He even had his own song named "Keep 'em Guessing." *If "Keep 'em Guessing" wasn't deleted, Mushu would've been the second animal friend of a Disney Princess to have a song of his own (the first being Sebastian, the third being Louis). *In deleted scenes, Mushu calls Mulan by various nicknames including "Miss," "Doll," "Babe," "Mademoiselle" and "Sweetcakes." *In House of Mouse, we learn that his favorite foods are Kung Pao chicken and fresh roasted nuts. Drinking iced water prohibits his ability to breathe fire for a little while. *Mushu bears a resemblance to Melty from Lilo & Stitch: The Series in both appearance and color. However, unlike Melty, Mushu lacks wings. *Throughout the movie, Mushu refers to Khan as a "cow," and yet only once, after the Hun archers attack the cart carrying cannons with fire arrows and destroy it, Mushu says to Mulan, "Oh, sure. Save the horse." *Mushu is one of the three characters to break the fourth wall, alongside Genie and Donald Duck. In Kingdom Hearts, Mushu pulls out a manga and realizes that he was cut from the first book and in the film, when looking for Mulan during the avalanche sequence of the Tong Shao Pass, he sees some hair in the snow and, thinking it's Mulan, pulls out what is really a Hun and quickly puts him back under the snow, sheepishly saying "Nope!" to the audience. *According to Disneystrology, Mushu's birthday would be November 27th. Category:Sonic X Characters Category:Friendly Heroes Category:Good Hearted Heroes Category:Selfish Heroes Category:Brave Heroes Category:Disney Heroes Category:Peaceful Heroes Category:Pure of Heart Category:Fighter Category:Friend of a Hero Category:Cartoon Heroes Category:Singing Heroes Category:On and Off Heroes Category:Sidekicks Category:Movie Heroes Category:Living Heroes Category:Remorseful Heroes Category:Video Game Characters Category:From Zero to Hero Category:About Males Category:In love Heroes